Hands up, and eyes closed

The murder of civilians and security personnel at the hands of militant fanatics has become a norm in Pakistan. Despair and gloom have become our natural state of being. It happens every day. People are routinely robbed of their lives and peace of mind. So much blood is spilled over the course of a single day across this troubled land, yet, nothing changes. What is most frightening is that we now appear to have settled in quite well in our designated roles. The aggressors shoot, bomb and kill. The victims condemn, mourn and bury. It has become clear that as long as we have something to give, they will keep coming to get it. Over and over again.Yet another policeman was martyred in a roadside bomb blast in the Raigi area of Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, on Tuesday. The bomb disposal squad defused two more bombs which had been planted in the same vicinity. No one claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is most likely behind the attack, according to police officials. Security personnel have been specifically targeted by the militants on countless occasions during the ongoing insurgency, especially in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where the PTI-led coalition government is in power. The KPK Police is at the mercy of the militants. They stand guard wherever ordered to. Drive-by shootings, planted bombs, suicide bombers – death comes in various forms, but it always does.Unless there is a complete change in our modus operandi, this will keep happening. The current situation is similar to people frantically running around, with towels and mops in their hands, desperately trying to keep the floor dry, while no one pays attention to the open tap flooding the house right in front of them. We will always stay one step behind unless we attack the militant strongholds and focus efforts towards disbanding their network, which now spans across the country. The fight must be taken to them for a change. To those areas they roam around freely, give interviews, plot attacks, train fighters and suicide bombers, who are then unleashed on us. We know where to go, who to attack, but we’re doing everything to avoid the unavoidable, to delay the inevitable. And by doing so, we’re making it ever more difficult for the state to regain control of its territory, if it ever finds the resolve fight the enemy in the future. Till then, we might as well force our policemen to wear explosive-laden jackets with timers on them before we send them to man posts and buildings, since it is not much different from what we’re currently doing. Through its inaction and confusion, the political leadership is complicit in the murder of its voters. The government is urged to do its job, or simply quit, and hide forever.